HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3506        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3753

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

John Barrett, III

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to limit consumer exposure to deceptive calling practices.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

John Barrett, III

1st Berkshire

1/18/2019

Thomas P. Walsh

12th Essex

1/28/2019

Smitty Pignatelli

4th Berkshire

1/25/2019

William L. Crocker, Jr.

2nd Barnstable

1/28/2019

Tram T. Nguyen

18th Essex

1/28/2019

Shawn Dooley

9th Norfolk

1/28/2019

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

3rd Berkshire

1/28/2019

Timothy R. Whelan

1st Barnstable

1/28/2019

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

1/28/2019

Steven Ultrino

33rd Middlesex

1/28/2019

Susan Williams Gifford

2nd Plymouth

1/28/2019

Brian M. Ashe

2nd Hampden

1/28/2019

José F. Tosado

9th Hampden

1/28/2019

Anne M. Gobi

Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex

1/29/2019

Josh S. Cutler

6th Plymouth

1/29/2019

Bradley H. Jones, Jr.

20th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Joseph W. McGonagle, Jr.

28th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

1/29/2019

Brian W. Murray

10th Worcester

1/30/2019

Susannah M. Whipps

2nd Franklin

1/30/2019

Tommy Vitolo

15th Norfolk

1/30/2019

Adam G. Hinds

Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden

1/30/2019

Ryan C. Fattman

Worcester and Norfolk

1/30/2019

Kimberly N. Ferguson

1st Worcester

1/30/2019

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

1/31/2019

Elizabeth A. Poirier

14th Bristol

1/31/2019

Hannah Kane

11th Worcester

2/1/2019

Jerald A. Parisella

6th Essex

2/1/2019

Bruce J. Ayers

1st Norfolk

2/1/2019

Harriette L. Chandler

First Worcester

2/1/2019

William C. Galvin

6th Norfolk

2/1/2019

David Allen Robertson

19th Middlesex

2/2/2019

Michael S. Day

31st Middlesex

5/1/2019

James K. Hawkins

2nd Bristol

5/1/2019

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

5/1/2019

Tami L. Gouveia

14th Middlesex

5/1/2019

Carlos González

10th Hampden

5/1/2019

Denise Provost

27th Middlesex

5/1/2019

Maria Duaime Robinson

6th Middlesex

5/1/2019

Claire D. Cronin

11th Plymouth

5/2/2019

Mathew J. Muratore

1st Plymouth

5/6/2019

David K. Muradian, Jr.

9th Worcester

5/3/2019

James Arciero

2nd Middlesex

5/3/2019

RoseLee Vincent

16th Suffolk

5/3/2019

Natalie M. Blais

1st Franklin

5/5/2019

Daniel R. Carey

2nd Hampshire

5/3/2019

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

5/3/2019

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

13th Middlesex

5/5/2019

Sarah K. Peake

4th Barnstable

5/6/2019

Alice Hanlon Peisch

14th Norfolk

5/6/2019

Angelo M. Scaccia

14th Suffolk

5/6/2019

Steven S. Howitt

4th Bristol

5/6/2019

Stephan Hay

3rd Worcester

5/6/2019

Adrian C. Madaro

1st Suffolk

5/6/2019


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3506        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3753

By Mr. Barrett of North Adams, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3753) of John Barrett, III and others for legislation to limit consumer exposure to deceptive calling practices.  Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

_______________

 

An Act to limit consumer exposure to deceptive calling practices.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Section 1 of chapter 159C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Office”, the following 2 definitions:-

“Personal identifying information”, any name or telephone number that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to assume the identity of a person or persons.

“Pose”, to falsely represent oneself, directly or indirectly, as another person or persons.

SECTION 2.  Section 4 of said chapter 159C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-  The telephone number listed in the caller identification service or device shall be a valid telephone number attributable and traceable back to the calling party.

SECTION 3. Said chapter 159C is hereby amended by inserting after section 4 the following 2 sections:-

Section 4A.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a person shall not, with the intent to deceive, defraud, harass, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value, including, but not limited to, financial resources or personal identifying information:

(1)  make, place or initiate a call or text message or engage in conduct which results in the display of misleading, false or inaccurate caller identification, or caller ID, information on the receiving party’s telephone or device or otherwise circumvent caller identification technology;

(2) cause to be displayed a Massachusetts area code on the recipient’s caller ID unless the person making, placing or initiating the call or text message maintains a physical presence in the commonwealth; or

(3) obtain or use personal identifying information about a person without the express authorization of such person in order to pose or assist another to pose as such person in making, placing or initiating a call or text message.

A violation of this section shall be considered an unfair and deceptive act or practice in violation of chapter 93A. This section shall not apply to:

(1) lawfully authorized investigative, protective or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency, a State, or a political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States; or

(2) activity engaged in pursuant to a court order that specifically authorizes the use of caller ID manipulation.

Section 4B.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, providers of telephone services in the commonwealth shall implement effective caller authentication technology for all networks to ensure the legitimacy of caller identification numbers provided by their systems to consumers. 

SECTION 4.  Section 8 of said chapter 159C is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(d) Aggrieved persons, public interest groups, municipalities of the commonwealth, the department of telecommunications and cable or the attorney general’s office may initiate proceedings relating to violations of section 4A.  Violations of said section 4A, in actions brought pursuant to this subsection, shall be punished by fines of not more than $10,000 per each deceptive call; provided that said fine shall be not less than $5,000 for each deceptive call involving a consumer age 65 years or older.

SECTION 5. There shall be established a special legislative commission pursuant to section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws to study methods for and effects of implementing the requirements of section 4B of chapter 159C of the General Laws.  The commission shall consist of: 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house; 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the president of the senate and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; the attorney general or a designee; and 2 persons to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the telecommunications industry, and 1 of whom shall be a consumer protection advocate. The commission shall submit a report to the governor and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate not later than 1 year after the effective date of this act detailing their findings and recommendations.

SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, providers of telephone services in the commonwealth shall implement effective caller authentication technology for all networks to ensure the legitimacy of caller ID numbers provided by their systems to consumers pursuant to section 4B of chapter 159C of the General Laws not later than June 30, 2019.

SECTION 7. The office of consumer affairs and business regulation shall promulgate regulations to implement sections 4A and 4B of chapter 159C of the General Laws not later than 3 months after the effective date of this act.